This month we’re happy to feature one of our customers from North Carolina and their experience in utilizing the AlterG at their clinic.
“I purchased the AlterG® for my practice in 2012 and it has been a great asset in my clinic. It is an essential tool that I use with as many my patients as I can. I have patients who have not run in years who are now able to ‘fly.’ The smiles on their faces are so rewarding. The versatility of being able to use the AlterG as an unweighting system without harnesses or having to change into swimsuits with a wet area are amazing. Here are a few examples of different types of patients I’ve had the opportunity to help in more drastic ways, thanks to AlterG:
- Total Knee Replacements (TKR), Ankle & Foot Surgeries—Utilizing the AlterG while improving their gait pattern has helped in muscle recruitment firing to occur at the appropriate times, thus increasing their function early in rehabilitation.
Incomplete Paraplegia in the lower extremities—This patient has been able to walk with a normal gait pattern on the AlterG, improving his overall cardiovascular fitness and enhancing the strengthening of the lower extremities. - Lower Lumbar Spine Issues with an L4 nerve root compression and significant foot drop—This patient had a history of Multiple Myeloma Cancer which had caused considerable deconditioning over the years. He is unable to walk without a rolling walker. However, on the AlterG, he is able to walk briskly and even do a slow jog which has improved the overall cardiovascular fitness and his health in general.
- Metatarsal Stress Fractures—A marathon runner who had qualified and was scheduled to run the Boston Marathon developed a stress fracture. By rehabbing with my practice and the AlterG, she was able to begin her running program sooner and did not lose her cardiovascular fitness. She later ran the Boston Marathon successfully with no pain.
- Rehabbing Runners—We have also had some interaction with the local running store in rehabilitating some runners. As we market the AlterG, patients go back to their referring physicians and tell them of their personal successes with the AlterG; we get requests specifically asking for AlterG to be part of the rehab tools used with their patients.
I’d like to add that some of our patients after graduation loved the AlterG so much that they would come back specifically for the opportunity of running on the AlterG. The physical therapy patients that have been helped are weight-bearing restricted, limiting the ability to bear weight. Runners who have had metatarsal stretch fractures have been able to start back on their running program earlier, reducing their deconditioning and returning to their sport faster.”
—David C. Parker, PT/Owner